Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be. - William Hazlitt

Responding to the National Organization for Marriage

While this feels like feeding the trolls, here we go...

The National Organization for Marriage, in case you've been living under a rock, recently started their campaign to "defend" marriage. As with many cultural issues, this one is another case study in logical fallacies, a complete misunderstand of one's own belief system, and reasoning so flawed it would be hilarious if they weren't dead serious.

This video (I refuse to embed it) is making the rounds, with the kind of fearmongering usually reserved for Those People. With a host of actors, NOM insinuates all kinds of tragedy and falsehoods about what "gay marriage" would cause. My favorite is the argument that, because a same-sex couple may be married, a doctor somehow has to make some awful choice between faith and profession. Here's a quick reference line for later, doc (who's not actually a doctor, BTW): If you have a hard time choosing between what's right medically or morally and what's preached on Sunday for anyone, you may have chosen the wrong profession.

But my favorite portion on NOM is the FAQ on their site. With language like "threaten marriage" or "San Francisco-style judges" or making a clear distinction between "moms and dads" and "parents", the page reads like the dance instruction pattern for How to Tap-dance Around My Bigotry.

I was going to do a point-by-point, but frankly I want to say a couple things and then be done.

Recent articles in the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek discussed the recent declines in religious worship and participation in the church. National Organization for Marriage, you are the poster child for why this is happening. You are the latest face of a sect in this country that has perverted faith and belief into a discriminatory political force. You are the people that have turned a large portion of an entire generation against the very ideals you claim to support because your message is filled with hate, and bile, and lies. You are the smirking face of bigotry which claims, like a child caught in a lie, that that wasn't really what you meant.

You are, in short, doomed to irrelevance in a world that will cease to care about you or your cause. It will take a while because, like all hysterical ninnies who refuse to grow up, we--my generation--will have to force you into tolerance, much as our parents' generation forced the bigots before you to accept civil rights.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal has gained some well-deserved youtube stardom for his extremely thoughtful remarks on the Senate floor. Responding to a request to suspend the rules and co-sponsor a leadership bill to amend the state constitution to overturn the decision, Majority Leader Gronstal replied:

"One of my daughters was in the workplace one day, and her particular workplace at that moment in time there were a whole bunch of conservative, older men. And those guys were talking about gay marriage. They were talking about discussions going on across the country. And my daughter Kate, after listening to it for about 20 minutes, said to them: ‘You guys don’t understand. You’ve already lost. My generation doesn’t care.’ I think I learned something from my daughter that day, when she said that. [Watch the video here or by clicking on the image above.]

Support for marriage equality has been growing among the whole population, but the fact is that a clear majority of Americans age 18-34 support same-sex marriage by a margin of 51-40 according to a December 2008 Newsweek poll (reflecting many other surveys), meaning that when it comes to full equality for GLBT Americans the question is not if, but when.

Your actions cement that future every day because you turn people like me into advocates.